The Heart Of A Child
by Darkkinkachu
Summary: Being an orphan is never easy. Being a blue skinned, pink haired orphan with outlawed and mostly likely murdered parents, isn't any easier...


The Heart Of A Child

Darkkinkachu: This was inspired by and is dedicated to Saniika on DA. The ever-so-awesome and praise-worthy Saniika. If you have a DA account then go there and tell Saniika how very awe-inspiring they are. Go. Now.

Disclaimer: Oh if I owned Naruto you would know it…believe me. I don't own it. Nor do I own the art this was inspired by.

-

It was raining. Normally, the couple in question loved the rain. They loved to go out and dance in its cleansing downpour or watch as each tiny drop added to the ocean. It was their love of the sky that brought them together.

Now the rain meant nothing to them as they scrambled through the dense forest, so far from their home. They stopped under an ancient, knarred tree, puffing out heavy breaths that sprayed the rain away from their mouths.

"Go. Just go," the man said, standing up to gaze wearily out from their hiding spot, "I'll lead them off so you two can find the old lady."

"I can't just leave you," the woman protested, "if they catch you-"

"-then at least you and the baby will be safe!" He roared, something he rarely did.

There was a small whimper from between the two. Something in the fuzzy black blanket stirred, kicking away the folds of the covering, "Da? Da?"

"Shh shh, I didn't mean to yell," the once S-class criminal hushed, stooping down to place a gentle kiss on the child's head, "Daddy's going away for a little bit, k? Be good, son."

"Bye? Da go bye?" the toddler questioned, large green eyes blinking up at the pair.

"I love you…" Kisame whispered, leaning down and cupping his wife's face in his huge hands, "I love you both so much…"

"I love you too," Sakura murmured back, tears and raindrops mingling on her face as she kissed him one last time.

-

Tsunade had no intention of answering the door. Who ever was dumb enough to get stuck out in a down pour like this deserved to drown. But the pounding continued and the old woman felt her resolve crumble.

"Oh, alright! I'm coming!" she groaned slightly, age taking a definite toll on her body, "Jeez, you would think I moved to the outskirts of town just so lost travelers could use my home as a free Inn!"

After stepping down as Hokage and letting Naruto take her place, Tsunade had retreated to the very fringes of Konoha where, she _thought _at least, she could live out her last few years in peace.

The Sannin flung open the door, looking just as threatening as she had many years ago when her youth was real and not a charka-enhanced illusion, "Ok, you stupid-" the words caught in her throat as a flash of lightning exposed the person standing before her.

_No…No, she's dead. There are other people with pink hair..._Tsunade thought, taking a step back, _like…like um…it can't be… _"Sakura?" she said the last part out loud, in a meek whisper.

Her old student gave her a thin smile, "It's good to see you too, Tsunade."

"No…every one said you were dead…" the blond was feeling light headed. How could this be?

"Well I guess I'm not as dead as people thought." Sakura closed the door behind herself and looked at her former teacher, "Please…I need your help…"

"You were dead." Tsunade insisted, falling back in her arm chair, "You were taken by Akatsuki and no one ever saw you again…oh Sakura, I'm so sorry!"

The older woman suddenly flung herself at the pinkhaired medic, nearly toppling them both to the floor, "If I had known…if I had just tried to save you, even once! I'm s-so sor-rry!"

An indignant squeal broke the two apart, "What in the name of-"

For the first time, Tsunade noticed the bundle in Sakura's arms which was now squirming and making little huffing noises.

Sakura smiled proudly, pulling back the cover, "Tsunade, I want you to meet my son, Cloud."

A tuft of pink hair popped up fallowed by an oddly blue face and stunning green eyes, "Da?" the child questioned, looking around.

"Your...son…" Tsunade fell back into her chair once again, "So then…the Akatsuki?"

Sakuras face darkened as she adjusted the toddler in her arms, "The Akatsuki wanted information from me. When I wouldn't tell them any thing they…" angry, bitter tears burned in Sakura eyes for a moment, "Kisame saved me. We fell in love and got married in secrect. That's why I'm here, Tsunade. I need your help."

"I'm not sure I understand," the woman said, still trying to absorb everything being told her, "Help with what? Where is Kisame? Why me?"

"You and Naruto are the only ones I can trust here," Sakura smiled again, brushing some hair out of her son's eyes, "I couldn't get to Naruto so…I came to you."

Cloud gave a burst of giggles as his mothers hair tickled his face, "Ma! Ma!"

Tsunade couldn't help it. Even if he was the spawn of a cold blooded killer, the child was adorable in his own unique way. His skin was a lighter shade that his fathers but it set off his green eyes and rosy hair in a very appealing way. The black, gill like markings under his eyes were barley visible but she thought they would probably get darker with age. Tiny blue fingers were stretching out and waving in her direction.

"Who?" the young one asked, sounding like an owl, "Who ma?"

"Tsunade." Sakura cooed, holding her child out to the woman, "This is Tsunade, Cloud."

The boy looked from his mother to the blond and back again, "Baa-chan?"

Sakura's peels of laughter were drown out by another rumble of thunder.

-

Tsunade leaned back in her chair, watching as Cloud played on the floor. Her thought-to-be-dead student had returned with a child she had with a shark-like Akatsuki. Now that the Akatsuki had discovered their secret relationship the three of them were no longer safe. Apparently, Kisame had already left, making it look like he and his family were heading to Mist.

"It will be so hard on him," Tsunade whispered over the drumming of the rain, watching the young child gnaw on a small wooden fish.

Sakura gave a short, houmorless laugh, "It will be hard on all of us. I miss Kisame already and I…" tears were filling her eyes again, "I don't want to leave him. God, Tsunade, I don't but…a life on the run is no way to raise a child. Kisame and I will come back for him, I swear it. But for now…"

Sakura trailed off, watching Cloud pull himself up and wobble around, "Kisame was so proud the first time he did that…he was like a cocky rooster all day, strutting around like _he_ had done something great."

"You really love him then?"

"More than I ever could have imagined…"

Tsunade gave a heavy sigh and rubbed her eyes tiredly. She was getting to old for this sort of thing, "How long do you think it will take to loose them?"

"Two, maybe three years." The medic said, looking out the window, "Kisame and I can take them one-on-one and they know it. They'll be looking for us in groups." Slowly the girl turned, giving her teacher a pleading look. Tsunade couldn't help thinking how worn and weary her old student looked.

_What did those monsters _do_ to her?_ Tsunade thought furiously.

"Tsunade?" her voice was thin and pleading, "Please…I need you to help me. This is my life now. This is my family…please…"

Slowly the old woman got up and embraced the girl, "Of course I'll help you. You and Naruto were always like the children I never had."

"Thank you. Thank you…" it was all Sakura could mutter for a few moments, lost in the comforting hug of her once-teacher. When they parted, they saw Cloud looking up at them, confusion and curiosity flooding his eyes.

Sakura bent down, kissing her son's forehead, "I'll be back, ok? I'll come back and we can all be a family again."

Realization flashed across the boys face, "No! Kaasan No bye! Stay!" he demanded, pouting up at his mother.

"I'll come back. It a promise." Sakura laughed, almost choking on her tears, "It's the promise of a lifetime." She echoed the words of her former teammate.

With a final hug Sakura disappeared out into the night, rain still pelting the earth with out mercy. For a long moment Cloud stood rooted the spot, an annoyed look painted on his round, little face.

Finally, he looked up at Tsunade then tottered over to the window next to the door. Pulling himself up on the chair he peered out a the dark road, annoyance melting away and rapidly being replace by fear, "Ma? Kaasan! Toosan? Ma! Da! Come back!"

And Tsunade felt her heart break a little.

-

One,

Two,

Three years rolled by. Every day, every single day, Cloud would sit on the chair next to the window, diligently watching the road his mother had disappeared down. He would looked to Tsunade imploringly as if begging his 'Baa-chan' to some how make his parents magically return.

By the forth year Cloud had stopped asking when his mother and father would be back.

By the fifth year, Tsunade could no longer keep the poor child cooped up in her cabin in the woods. The first day he went into the village of Konoha he returned crying to tell her that the other kids made fun of his skin and hair. The slug tamer had comforted him, telling the boy that his mother was teased as a child as well.

It had been six years since her thought-to-be-dead apprentice had shown up on Tsunade's door step, begging her to care for her baby. Six years since the old woman had brought the boy for the Hokage. She still remembered Narutos reaction.

The sadness and understanding that had shone in the young mans eyes when she told him what had happened still haunted Tsunade.

Six years since Clouds night terrors had begun. Every night he would cry out for his parents and flail against unseen monsters. Each morning he awoke with bitter red eyes and an ache that even Tsunade couldn't heal.

It had become obvious why the Akatsuki had wanted Cloud. With both his father's endless well of charka and his mother's near-perfect control, the boy was learning advanced Jutsu years before Ninja school.

Over the years, Cloud never stopped watching the horizon.

He always watched especially hard on the days that it rained.

-

Darkkinkachu: I couldn't get this to end…I still don't have the ending right. But it was going on to long and I had to just cut it off. I was thinking of making a story out of this but I'm going to wait and see what people think of it. Thank you for reading and please remember to review!

P.S: by the way, I know pretty much nothing about children so if the ages are wrong or something he does, I'm sorry.


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